Wolves
True Christianity is a response to God’s love and the empowering freedom that comes from this love. The goal of our faith is not to blindly follow imperfect men who can quote Bible verses but to walk with Christ, by the Spirit, into the fullness and perfection of the Father’s divine design.
The dogmas (religious rules, doctrines, etc.) of the Christian institution are only useful if they propel us into a personal and corporate experience of God and His Spirit - doctrine is useful if one uses it properly (1 Timothy 1:8). The Church itself falls into error when it makes factual information about God and the Bible the be-all-end-all. Then, our worship is mere idolatry of the mind. We become fixated on increasing knowledge. With increasing knowledge comes increasing arrogance if it is not balanced with an experience of Christ and a participation in His many sufferings, as Paul states:
“I do not have a righteousness of my own that comes from legalistic knowledge, but a righteousness that is by the faith of Jesus Christ - the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of trust. I want to know Christ - yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death and attaining to the fullness of resurrection life.” Philippians 3:9-11 (my paraphrase)
Therefore, a “church” is a gathering of the Lord’s people who live in the freedom and glory of the anointing and direct this anointing towards loving God and others. The church is for the growth of the Body of Christ so that God’s love and freedom can manifest in fullness (1 Corinthians 12:7). The church is not a group of people who come together in order to agree on certain theological topics in order to feel more righteous than others before God.
This is where it becomes very important to understand an element of “false teaching” that the Scriptures warn us about. A return to law (obedience to written rules and regulations) is a departure from Christ (Galatians 5:1-6). We should understand that “law” doesn’t just mean the Jewish law, but any religious system that attempts to modify human behavior in order to win God’s approval. There is Christian law, just as much as there is Jewish law or Islamic law. “Law” tells us what to think in order to make God happy with us.
What we have in Christ’s Body today is an overabundance of teachers who are dedicated to the proclamation and glorification of Christian law. In the name of Christ and “sanctification”, these pastors and teachers saturate their congregations with facts about the Bible. We learn what to think about God, not how to think with God (the mind of Christ).
This style of teaching may be useful initially, but it can’t take us very far in terms of true spiritual maturity. In fact, it can very easily become a snare and a trap. Rather than becoming divinely empowered for our individual spirituality, we become dependent on a teacher or pastor for their teaching. In the long run, this dependency won’t grow us into truly knowing God. It also teaches us to hate people who don’t think like us.
The early church struggled with false teaching. It is easy to understand why. An explosive new spirituality began to emerge from the bosom of Israel’s religion. Obviously, there were going to be questions about what worship looked like in this new paradigm that Christ calls the “kingdom of God.” In light of this kingdom, there was a developing pattern of teaching, an emerging “theology” (2 Timothy 1:13). This pattern of teaching was focused on the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection. Relationship with God is no longer about written rules, dogmas, and regulations - but on living in the life of God so that God’s fullness can manifest through a new humanity (the Body of Christ).
True kingdom teaching teaches us how to experience Christ. Knowing and teaching the scriptures is important, but this knowledge must serve our experience. The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power (1 Corinthians 4:20). False teaching glorifies the one teaching or a religious system, even if it initially appears to serve God. Religion has been, is, and will always be a powerful tool of deceivers.
About false teachers, Christ says:
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing (with words and teachings that appear holy), but inwardly they are ferocious wolves (focused on ego and growing a following). By their fruit (actions), you will recognize them…” Matthew 7:15-16 (NIV), parentheses mine
Christ calls false teachers who draw men and women after themselves “wolves.” Wolves move in packs to attack and kill their prey. Spiritual wolves prey on the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual immaturity of people in order to get something from them. Wolves seek to gratify the flesh (ego). Paul says the same thing in his farewell to the Ephesian elders in Acts:
“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:29-30 (NIV)
I think this issue in the church today is more prevalent than we realize but also very subtle. A return to legalism is to fall into false teaching. If a teaching doesn’t energize, empower, and deliver, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Learning facts about the Bible or “Three Practical Ways to Love Your Neighbor” might be wonderfully pious and useful in some way, but it won’t bring us any closer to God or deliver the human heart and mind. Why? Because it is factual information that is intended to modify our human performance. Behavior modification through dogmatic commandments will never transform our human condition:
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ…since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world (operating through law), why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These rules...are based on merely human commands and teachings...they have an appearance of wisdom...but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” Colossians 2:8,20-23 (NIV)
Salvation means rescue from the corruption of the world and renewal into the Father’s design for us. Salvation is NOT believing certain information about God so that God will accept us. God has already chosen all of humanity through the sending of His Son. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. All died with Christ to the old way, so that all may live in His resurrection power (2 Corinthians 5:14-21). Salvation is a partnering with God in His mission to revive and renew (resurrect) the human condition from sin and death (Acts 2:21).
It is good to be part of a local gathering of believers (Hebrews 10:25), but make sure that your efforts to grow in community mean that you are actually growing in your heart and not just in your mind. Bible studies and church meetings are for restoration and renewal of the individual, not for a group intellectual orgasm. Watch out for the men and women who expect or demand you to think in a certain way so that you can be just like them. This is the spirit of antichrist, not the anointing of Jesus Christ. Antichrist hates diversity of thought and individual freedom before God.
Above all, we should look to mature into the freedom and glory of the divine image. Look for teaching that brings us into God’s fullness - in mind, body, and spirit. Avoid teaching that shoves religious information, behavior modification, or political divisiveness down our throats. If, with open minds and pure hearts, we genuinely seek to live in the shadow of the Shepherd, we will certainly be kept safe from the enemy's wolves.
